San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1887-04-22
SIR KNIGHTS.
Their Last Day and Evening at This Ses-
sion of the Grand Lodge.

THIRD DAY-AFTERSooN SESSION.
On reassembling the grand lodge,
Knights of Pythias, yesterday afternoon
at 2:30, the impressive ceremony OF the
installation OF the grand lodge officers
took place, after which the following
resolutions were adopted:
Resolved, That the thanks OF this Grand
lodge be and is hereby rendered 10 the mem
bcrs of Elk lodge No. %, and 20 the citizens
treatment which this Grand lodge has re-
ceived at their hands, and that we shall ever
remember our visit to this beautiful and MIS-
tOric City of the Alamo.
Resolved, That the above resolution be en-
tered upon the minutes of this Grand lodge
and copy of It be furnished Elk lodge NO. 90
and the press of the city for publication.
At4p. m. the Grand lodge, having dis
posed of all the business brought before
ii, adjourned to meet In Fort Worth the
third Tuesday in April, 1883.
At night the closing ceremonies OF the
convention took place at Casino hall,
which had been beautifully decked with
national flags and Pythian emblems for
the occasion. Seats were placed in the
large auditorium, and these were
soon filled with AS fine an
assemblage OF ladies and gentle
men Ms ever graoed an occasion
OF festivity in San Antonio. AT O'Clock
the grand officers had occupied seats on
the platform. After they were seated,
Mr.. w. B. smith, of Elk Lodge, intro
duced the orator Of the evening, Chan.
cellOr Commander G.. A. Keller, OF ELK
Lodge, who delivered one OF the most
beautiful speeches ever listened to by Nh
audience. He said:
There is an aacient fable told of one of the
classical orators of Oden times, who uttered
words so sweetly and elOquently that honey
bees clustered about his lips; l wish were
likewise so and had the power TO express my
self rs swcetly TO give full force to the good
wishes of welcome which imbued the hearts
of the members of Elk Lodge 50, and what
they felt towards the members of the Grand
Lodge of the state of Texas and their brother
knights who had assembled in the city.
They came not as lawyers, merchants, mechan-
les, stOckmen or farmers. but they came
from the office, the shop, the store, the farm
from every department of toll, of brain and
Drawn, aud assembled in the city as brothers,
and San Antonio extended to them her well
come. The eloquent orator then disclosed
some of the beautiful principles of the order.
IL was TO break down seltshness and to teach
mankind 10 lift up the orphan, help the widow,
etc. The city felt hOnOTed by the assembling
of the Grand lodge here, and welcomed them
cordially. He lived for the present and believ-
ed people should venerate the time in which
they lived. He stated that he had great re
speCt for the long ago, but had no respect for
that class of people who looked mOurnfully
into the past He thought the pre- sent century,
the lHtn, was the most glorious OF all with ltS
science and its morality; he was the champion
of today. He argued that the best aim of hui
mainly was the making of Il better man, and
this the order of the knights OF Pythias had
for handspring He was glad that this con-
vCntiOn had been pleasant and harmonious in
its session, and that their deliberations had
been fruitful in good works, and he trusted
that they might look back to their visit to the
metropolis of Texas ne one of the green spots
in their memory. He in conclusion, in behalf
of the members Of Elk Lodge No. 80, again
nlfsrtT, nod IN, Ia aifp
AT the conclusion of the address Of
welcome, Judge Keller retired amid
great applause, and then Mr.. Smith in
trOduced Past Grand Chancellor j. Il.
Walker, who replied in finely turned
speech, equally as good as the preceding
one He said:
Ladies' and Gentlemen and Brother knights
1 appear tonight, as understand, as Il sub
sttute for the great man in our order who
was TO have appeared on this occasion before
you'll was thinking just now that might have
faltered, but when | reflected that had this
valiant Knight at my back that could come
forward with confidence and that ought at
least partially succeed in my undertaking.
Ladies and gentlemen our order that we now
represent was originated and founded some
twCnty-three years ago. Our order, though Sc
cTet in its nature, has for an object friendship,
charity and benevOlence; these principles our
order has attempted to disseminate through
the entire world from that time TO this. On
that occasion, February 18th, 1864, this or
der was represented by only five men
in the city of Washington, at which
time il was organized. We do not 20 back in
to remote antiquity. into the dark dismal past
to a state of doubt 10 begin our existence. We
come down to modern times, we show you
something that is real, that is tangible. We
came forward with these five gentlemen %
years ago TO show tOithis country, this world,
that we knew Il time when this small knot OF
men would elevate and relieve the sufferings
of mankind and find shelter for humanity.
We say to the world that we have witnessed
the miseres, the misfortunes and death that is
stalking abroad in our land. We say to the
world that we will relieve and lift up human
ity through the mainstay of charity for the
faults of men. Our order we may say has met
with unparalleled success, having been in eI-
istence only - years, yet we now boast
membership of half million.
There is attached to our order an endOw-
ment rank in which members can procure
benefits to the loved ones whom we may leave
behind. As to the stability of this branch |
need only say that since its existence ten
years ago our eXchequer of that department
has paid to beneticiarles over S4,0OO0O4. Over
SljO,UOO of that amount has been paid in the
state of Texas. In this endowment branch of
il we represent an order that is substantial,
and will remain so for ages to come. 1t was
thought some years ago that the order
Of knights of Pythias was grand
myth, at least it was an experiment. !
am glad and proud to say to this intelligent
assemblage tonight that that has proven to be
q false assertion. We stand before you today
the peer in the strength of our existence of
have for our prototype Pythias, the friend of
Damon, who dared venture to sacrifice his
life for him, but we can in this day and time
point you to an instance. We have not to go
backt the days of Syracuse, we can point you
to knights all over this land who. in a willing
brotherhood, extend assistance to their suffer
ing brethren. We need only 20 back to a
few months: After the burning of Galveston
we were called upon to assist our suffering
brothers IN that city, and we did it bOuntfu-
ly. | would point you back to the great cal
amity that was experienced in my own native
state, South Carolina. When the city Of
Charleston was in ruins and the people were
suffering, ana cry came up
from the brotherhood of that city,
that they were in need of help, cir
culars were sent forth and literally responded
to. We might go back to the DAYS of yellow
fever in the City of Memphis aud there we
find the brotherhood sitting over their sick
brethren as guardian angels wiping the death
that was ever performed by member of this
order and one that would stand in comparison
with the friendship of our prototype Pythias
to DamOn, was that of Samuel Holden Hines
having escaped from the burning hotel at
Richmond, Ind, saw brother crying for help
from third story window and rushed into the
hames,again to rescue him, but met his death
Concluding, the speaker spoke of the excel
lcnce of reputation required of all those de-
string membership and that the main thing re-
quired was that all should be men. We invite
all good men and want only manly men, whose
regulations are without blemish, and whose
life is pure. We eliminate all politics from our
order and only teach principles that no man
can object to. He closed his speech
by thanking the citizens and the members of
the local lodge for the pleasant reception ten
dered them, and expressed the hope that the
Grand lodge would soon return to San Anto-
mo. After the applause following his speech
had subsidized, music struck up, and then the
90 n ipfa TTuffp Da,,